Monday, August 31, 2009

If you ever feel like G.I. Joe or Iron Man too narrowly define your child's ideas of what makes a hero, you'll be delighted to read Winter's compelling anthology of 14 of the greatest peacemakers to ever live.

In this counterbalance to modern day violence, Winter summarizes the lives of remarkable religious and political leaders and ordinary people who challenged injustice without ever raising a fist or weapon.

Author of the acclaimed Frida and Diego, Winter begins with three of the most revered heroes of all time, Jesus of Nazareth, Mahatma Gandhi and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., and summarizes the stands they took and the passive ways they resisted injustice. Winter never gets into the violence of their deaths, as if to say to readers: it is the life they led and the causes they fought that define their lives -- not the horrific actions of others.

Winter then explores the contributions of lesser known heroes. Among them, Holland's Corrie ten Boom, who hid Jewish people fleeing from the Nazis; Islam's Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who resisted British rule in India and became, in Winter's words, "the greatest proof in recent history that Islam can promote peace"; Paul Rusesabagina, who turned his hotel in Rwanda into a haven for the persecuted Tutsis; and William Feehan, a 71-year-old New York City firefighter who lost his life trying to rescue people trapped in the World Trade Center after it was bombed in 2001.

There is a gentle power to Winter's text and Sean Addy's portraits. Winter writes as if he's just a chair away, talking directly to your child, while Addy juxtaposes the humanity of the heroes with the tension of their circumstances in collages that evoke hope even as they suggest danger.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Nothing attracts a child to reading like a book titled, "Do Not Open," or one that promises to share all the crazy, wonderful stuff adults don't want kids to know about.

That's a lot to live up to, but Farndon's compendium of the world's most peculiar and mysterious facts is every bit as fun as it sounds.

Over the course of 256 pages, the best-selling author delves into 96 mysterious topics, from the truth about hoaxes to the secrets of brainwashing and safe cracking. He also gives the lowdown on bizarre mathematical patterns in nature and loopy laws that could get you locked up and how to create your very own nation and travel through time.

Adding to aura of the information being hush-hush, the book comes in a paperboard book case that's made to look like a metal lock box with painted-on rivets and lock, a window with bars, and a magnetic door enclosure.

With so many facts to choose from, a book this big might look overwhelming, but once inside Farndon gives easy tips to navigate through. At the bottom of every feature are teasers leading to related topics and their page numbers, so there's no need to flip around looking for the next interesting thing or go back and forth to the table of contents, though readers can certainly do that if they prefer. By inviting readers to read in a circuitous fashion, reading becomes an adventure. Kids sleuth through the information, rather than conform to the usual way of looking things up.

On every page inventive graphics make the facts that much more juicy and exciting. In a spread about lost treasures, kids are told true-life stories about stolen gold and jewels then given cardinal directions to fold-out windows on the opposite page that explain (or speculate) what happened to those treasures. The windows are arranged around a map that is set up like a game board, with points of reference and a grid of spaces to move on.

In another feature about reading body language, readers browse through 32 line drawings of a boy's body signals and learn which gestures suggest he is confident, ill-at-ease or lying, while half-way into the book, they come to a section about stealth technology, where the transparent body of the Northrop B-2 Spirit aircraft is superimposed over a blue sky, with breakouts explaining its invisible coating, vapor reducers, gold cockpit and more. (It doesn't get much cooler than that.)

The diversity of graphics reminds me of walking through a modern art museum. No two spreads look alike and there's always an interactive element to peak readers' interest in the facts. This is one reference book that doesn't get lost on a shelf. In fact in our 10-year-old's bedroom, few books other than DK's Cool Stuff series have been opened as much.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

When a donkey asks his friend if they can talk about the big elephant in the room, the friend assumes he's speaking metaphorically and confesses all of the things he did behind the donkey's back but suspects he already knew about. Like the time he ate all of the ice cream in the freezer. And the time the he ran away and left the donkey with a bully.

The friend gets so carried away trying to predict which of the blunders the donkey is referring to that he doesn't give him a chance to finish what he's saying. Finally, after nearly every awkward gaffe is purged, the donkey interrupts with an exasperated, "No! No! No! I don't care about any of those things..," and points around the corner to an elephant watching cartoons in another room, "I was just asking about the big elephant in the room."

Adults will laugh at the double entendre. Of all the animals Smith could have chosen, he opted to have two donkeys, the Democratic Party symbols, talking about an elephant, the Republican Party mascot, just out of earshot.

This is one of those hilarious books that's as fun for adults to read as children. When I began it, I imagined Lane Smith nudging me in the ribs and teasing, "Come on, you know you have." And then I blushed, knowing all too well that he was right. Yes, -- on occasion -- I have avoided a subject that nobody wants to talk about, only to fret that it would one day bubble up. And as I admitted this to myself, I realized, this man is brilliant. He got me to squirm, then laugh myself silly -- all in the span of 32 pages.

The premise of this book is sure to have parents shaking their heads, laughing: a child doesn't do what he's supposed to do so his mom, thoroughly spent on getting after him to do it, threatens a punishment so absurd that even the child knows she can't follow through on it.

But what's different about this story -- and what makes it so delicious and fun -- is that this mom actually does follow through.

From Billy Twitter's perspective, Mom is always after him -- he hasn't fixed his bed and instead of finishing his peas he's balanced them with utensils like a circus act. Then one day she goes off the deep end and threatens to get him a blue whale if he doesn't do what she says. Billy, of course, doesn't believe she'll really do it. For one, whales are bigger than any animal on the planet. "It's not like you can have one delivered to your house overnight," as Billy says.

But like other kids who've underestimated their moms, Billy is in for a surprise on the next page: a delivery truck the length of a block pulls up outside his front door with a blue whale. And now it's Billy's responsibility to take the whale wherever he goes, including to school, which means lugging it up the street behind his skateboard and taking out electric lines along the way.

And that's only the beginning of Billy's troubles. Though his teacher Mr. Wembley is delighted to see such a fabulous creature (not at all shocked, which makes this story all the more fun to believe in), Billy's classmates aren't pleased when Mr. Wembley cancels the cowboy movie he scheduled for class to talk about the whale's baleen. Soon Billy is being uninvited to a party and passed over to play kickball at recess, and just when things might turn around, classmate Tilbie Peel falls into the whale's blowhole.

Once home, Dad tells him to wash and wax his whale, check it for barnacles, wrestle it and take it to the park before heading off to the sea to find krill and seawater. But as Billy tosses buckets full of food and water into the whale's stinky mouth, he discovers one way to escape his problem is to get inside of it.

Barnett playfully reminds kids to think twice before they ignore us, while Rex brings to life the enormity of the boy's troubles with smart, quirky humor. His portrayal of child's perspective on being scolded is so spot-on, it's hilarious. Billy's mom storms toward the title page with a rain cloud for a head and later, all you see of Billy's mom and dad's faces are talking balloons where their heads should be.

Book 3 in Sci-Fi Sensation

What I'm Reading!

Put on a Play!

UK Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson has created a website to help teachers make dramas out of picture books! Get tips on finding the right story, making sound effects & more! For details, click here. "Acting is very good for children's self-confidence and for stimulating their imaginations and for many, it can be a great root into books and reading," Donaldson says.

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A Hero Returns!

While vacationing at the beach, a toy action figure and his loyal pet are mistaken for flotsam and carried off to a dolly's sand castle. Will the duo ever do valiant deeds again? Or will they play dress-up forever? Another hilarious adventure starring Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush by Mimi Grey. Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99.

Ocean Poetry

Read a Book. Give a Book.

Put a new book in the hands of child just by reading one! Go to We Give Books, select a children's book to read online, then choose a charity from the list provided. After you read, We Give Books will send the charity a book. It costs you nothing -- only the time it takes to read a book. The project, sponsored by The Pearson Foundation, Penguin and DK, so far has donated 934,682 books!

Celebrate Earth!

A new post every day to Earth Day, April 22..

Sun Valley Receives Novels!

This April, Where the Best Books Are!passed out 20 free copies of Orson Scott Card's award-winning Ender's Game in Colorado's poorest neighborhood as part of World Book Night. World Book Night is an annual worldwide event sponsored by book publishers and sellers, and is aimed at spreading the joy of reading among people who never read or rarely pick up a book. Where the Best Books Are! requested Sun Valley Youth Center as its giveaway location, and was one of tens of thousands of volunteers selected to pass out books.

For a Valentine

A small act of love blooms into a magical gift in this lovely collaboration by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Peter H. Reynolds. Harper, $14.99, all ages.

Read with Me!

A charming collection of stories about a plucky little girl and her best pal Bear. G.P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 3-5.

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For the Love of Books

Bookspeak!Poems about Books. Whimsical collages and type combine with clever rhymes in a wondrous ode to books. In one poem, a character pleads with readers to liberate him; in another, an Index competes with the book cover and Table of Contents for the reader's attention. Laura Purdie Salas (Stampede!) humanizes everything from the middle of story, as it laments that it never gets to go first, to a checked out library book that feels like it's gone on vacation. My favorite: "The Sky is Looming" about a book getting squashed by a head: "I'm buried under cheek and drool / and hair three inches deep. / My reader drifted close, then far, / then gently fell asleep..." Charmingly illustrated by Josee Bisaillon, Clarion, $16.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages.

News You Can Use!

Help Ringgold Reads restock their upper-grade libraries in Georgia after the devastating tornadoes of April 27. Buy a book or make a donation.

Help Uprise Books Project get challenged books into the hands of unprivileged teens. Join the Kickstarter campaign here.

Booktrack releases e-books with soundtracks to help boost readers' imagination and engagement. Watch a sample of The Ugly Ducklinghere.

Got a layover? You have to get this.

Bring along a glue stick and the wait will be bliss. Workman, $16.95, ages 7 and up.

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2011 School in Need

Where the Books Are!has adopted Fairview Elementary School as its first-ever "School in Need" for 2011. As extra books accumulate over the year from reviewing, I'll box them up and bring them over to help fill empty shelves in the school's library and classrooms. If you'd like to join me in helping this wonderful school, please send me a message here.

Quotes from Authors, Books and the Kids Who Love Them

"In my world, everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies." (Dr. Seuss)

"...Very often when crazy people are not actively being crazy, they are less crazy than regular people who are a little bit crazy at all times." (Big Audrey in Daniel Pinkwater's Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl)

"Grown-ups and ants are a lot alike. If they relaxed a little, they'd have a better time." (Bean in Annie Barrows's Ivy & Bean: What's the Big Idea?, Book 7)

"Wishes are slippery things. You have to be very specific or you can get exactly what you wished for and still end up with nothing."(Cynthia Lord's Touch Blue)

"Treat yourself with respect and ignore people who don't treat you with dignity."

(Grandma Penshine in Tracy Trivas's Wish Stealers)

"I will respect the tree and not throw away his pieces."

(Tate Miller, 6-year-old reader, on choosing to erase a misspelled word and correct it, rather than toss the paper and start over.)

"I can read in red. I can read in blue. I can read in pickle color too!"(from Dr. Seuss's I Can Read With My Eyes Shut)

"How do you catch sunbeams to make them work for you?"(from The Kids' Solar Energy Book by Tilly Spetgang and Malcolm Wells)

About Me

Need just the right book?

I'd like to help! Email me your questions and I'll select them to answer in this feature.

Q. I want my 6-year-old to get excited about reading but I'm having a hard time wading through all of the readers, knowing which ones are better than others. Are there some series you'd recommend more highly than others?

A. My three boys have been a great testing ground for early readers, and I can tell you from experience that the books that engaged them the most were funny in a way they could appreciate. Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie Books (Hyperion Books for Children) are brilliant. My youngest laughs out loud as he reads them and gets a charge out of saying sound words like "Oof!" that help break up the new words he's learning. We're also big fans of the Toon Books, including the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor-winning Stinky. Published in a cartoon format, the books are funny, easy-to-read and wonderfully quirky. Other stellar books include Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson Books (Candlewick Press) and the hilarious new Max Spaniel series by David Catrow (Orchard Books).

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Tender Tribute to Sally Ride

Books Not to Miss.

Little Treasures, Endearments from Around the World. Children bat their lashes and giggle in delight, in this sweet ode to terms of affection by Jacqueline K. Ogburn. Illustrator Raschka captures the subtlety of a child's expression -- from a shy glance to a beguiling look -- all with loose, spare brush strokes. Houghton Mifflin, $16.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages.

I Don't Want to Be a Pea! Hugo the hippo wants to be a princess for the Fairy-Tale Fancy Dress Party and tells his best friend Bella the bird that she should be a pea. But that isn't fair. Bella doesn't want to be a little round vegetable, and in no time the two are storming off in opposite directions. Talk about two peas in a pod! Could it be that a few costume alterations could make them both happy? An adorable tale about compromise, written by Ann Bonwill and illustrated by Simon Rickerty. Atheneum, $14.99, ages 2-6, 32 pages.

Heart and Soul. Caldecott winner Kadir Nelson writes like a man who's weathered life and now sits on his porch recalling how things once were, in this marvelous history of the African-American experience. Equally compelling are his portraits: faces etched with hardship, yet glistening with determination. Balzer + Bray, $19.99, ages 9 and up, 108 pages.

Sammy in the Sky. A girl reflects on all the things she loved about her late dog Sammy, then celebrates his life by blowing bubbles into the sky. As the bubbles float up on a breeze, a cloud that looks like Sammy seems to bound across the sky after them. "I love you, Sammy!" she yells to the cloud. "You're still the best hound dog in the whole wide world." A beautiful, reassuring story about coping with a lost pet. By Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barbara Walsh, paintings by Jamie Wyeth, Candlewick, $16.99, ages 4-7, 32pages.

The Green Mother Goose, Saving the World One Rhyme at a Time. Mother Goose favorites are repurposed into catchy green rhymes, in this clever book of whimsical poetry and collages. On one page, Jack Be Nimble turns off the tap; on another, readers chant, "One, Two, We Can Renew." By Jan Peck & David Davis, illustrated by Carin Berger. Sterling, $14.95, ages 4-8, 32 pages.

The Art of Disney Epic Mickey. The creators of the groundbreaking 2010 video game Disney Epic Mickey explore how it came to be, in this lush coffee table book filled with concept art, designs and in-depth analysis of the game. By Austin Grossman, with a foreward by Warren Spector. Disney Editions, $40, all ages, 160 pages.

Tallulah's Tutu. A little girl thinks she can become a great ballerina in just a few classes, but when she doesn't earn her tutu as soon as she'd like, she gives up trying. But will her love of dance call her back to class? By Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, Clarion, $16.99, ages 4 and up, 40 pages.

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes. Beatrice thrives on being perfect until one day she makes a very public mistake, and discovers that it's okay to let go and laugh at herself. By Mark Pett & Gary Rubinstein, illustrated by Mark Pett. Sourcebooks, $14.99, ages 4 and up, 32 pages.

Slightly Invisible, Featuring Charlie and Lola. Charlie and Marv have made an invisibility potion to look for sneaky creatures, and don't want to be bothered by Lola. Only now Lola's friend Soren Lorensen has gulped down most of the potion. Will they need Lola's help after all? Written and illustrated by Lauren Child, Candlewick, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 40 pages.

Tumford the Terrible. Tumford the cat is always getting into mischief and though he feels bad about it, he can't get himself to apologize for his mistakes. Then one day at the fair, Tumford gets into the worst trouble yet and discovers the wondrous effect of saying he's sorry. Written & illustrated by Nancy Tillman. Feiwel & Friends, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 32 pages.

My Name is MinaAnd I Love The Night. Anything Seems Possible At Night When The Rest of The World Has Gone to Sleep. Mina McKee, the quirky, endearing neighbor girl from David Almond's highly acclaimed 2008 debut Skellig, journals about herself and the world around her in this lyrical, intimate prequel. By David Almond. Delacorte Press, $15.99, 272 pages. Read an early review from The Guardian here.

Liesl & Poe: Locked away in the attic with only a sketchbook to keep her company, a lonely girl named Liesl looks to a ghost to help her escape from her cruel stepmother and lay her father's ashes to rest. Little does she know the box containing his ashes has been mixed up with one containing the greatest magic ever known. A tender, beautiful novel by bestselling adult author Lauren Oliver. HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 8-12, 320 pages.

The Apothecary: Janie and Benjamin discover elixirs they never imagined could exist, as they embark on a dangerous quest to save Benjamin's father, a London apothecary, and prevent nuclear disaster. From award-winning adult author Maile Meloy comes a sparkling children's debut in which the extraordinary becomes possible. G. P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 9 and up, 365 pages.

The Son of Neptune: In a camp miles away from where demigods Jason, Piper and Leo inherited a quest to rescue Hera, queen of the gods, a new camper has arrived who appears to be the son of Neptune, god of the sea, in this much-anticipated second book in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus. The story, the second of five, is told alternately by Percy, Frank and Hazel, and takes place about two months after the first book, The Lost Hero. Disney-Hyperion, $19.99, ages 9-12, 544 pages

2002 Classic Returns!

Paul O. Zelinsky's fantastic movable tribute to the nonsense song "This Old Man" will be reissued Sept. 29 with new cover art! Dutton, $20.99, ages 2-7, 8 pages. Read Zelinsky's essay on the making of this amazing book of flaps, tabs and wheels here.

If in Amherst, Mass...

Stop by The Eric Carle Museum, a magical place that showcases picture book art from around the world. The latest exhibition (June 18-Oct 9): the work of author-illustrator Tomi Ungerer, "Chronicler of the Absurd." Among his acclaimed picture books, The Mellops Go Flying (1957), The Three Robbers (1962), Flat Stanley (1964) and Moon Man (1967).

For Little Hands

In Memory of Diana Wynne Jones

The beloved author of Howl's Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci series passed away March 26 in Bristol, England, after a long struggle with cancer. She was 76. Jones will be sorely missed. Read Neil Gaiman's tribute here.

Free App!

Ever roam a bookstore, wondering how you'll pick from all of the children's titles? Download bestselling author James Patterson's free Kids' Book Finder Apphere to help sort through all of the options.

Publisher Giveaways and Offers!

Awesome Adventure! Sweepstakes: Become an Awesome Adventure member at HarperCollins to play free games and be entered for weekly giveaways. Every time you complete a game as a registered member, you'll be automatically entered for a book prize and, in some cases, an IPod Touch or $50 Best Buy gift card as well. Among the books being given away, The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney, Seekers #1: The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter and Freddy! King of Flurb by Peter Hannan. For more details, click here.STACKS Book Club: Sign up here to receive emails from Scholastic's children's book club, STACKS, and be the first to know about Scholastic's newest books, celebrity videos, widgets and games. Those who sign up will also be eligible to win monthly sweepstakes.